Published October 24, 2009

Maxis IPO Malaysia's biggest at RM12.4b

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(Kuala Lumpur)

MAXIS Communications, Malaysia's biggest mobile-phone operator, plans to raise as much as RM12.4 billion (S$5.1 billion) in the country's largest initial share sale, according to an e-mail sent to investors.

The company is offering as many as 2.25 billion shares at RM4.8-5.5 apiece next month, CIMB Investment Bank, the lead arranger for the stock sale, said in the e-mail.

The stock will be priced on Nov 10 and start trading on the Malaysian exchange on Nov 19.

The size of the sale would be more than double the previous record in Malaysia, Petronas Gas Bhd's offering in 1995.

The IPO would give Maxis funds to expand in faster-growing markets such as India and Indonesia as wireless demand slows in Malaysia, where mobile subscriptions exceed the population.

Almost 2.04 billion shares, or 91 per cent of the total, are being offered to institutional investors, while about 150 million, or 6.7 per cent, will be sold to the public, according to the e-mail.

Maxis started marketing yesterday in Hong Kong, followed by Singapore next Monday and Tuesday, and Kuala Lumpur from next Wednesday to Friday.

Presentations of the sale in Europe and the US will be from Nov 2-9. Malaysia's biggest funds, including the Employees Provident Fund, may take up almost half of the stock offering, a person with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg this week.

The phone carrier will include only local operations in the sale, potentially discouraging foreign investors because Maxis already controls 40 per cent of the Malaysian market, in which handsets outnumber people. -- Bloomberg